Huron High School senior wins top honor for research

Katie Everett, a senior at Huron High School in Ann Arbor, was one of two first-place winners receiving a $50,000 college scholarship in the Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition in Washington, D.C.

Everett, 17, took top honors Monday for her research on the human papillomavirus vaccine and adolescents.

"I was really excited (about winning) and the presenters were all phenomenal," Everett said Monday after returning home to Ann Arbor.

The national high school science competition was sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and run by the College Board.

Everett's study was titled "Chains of Infection: A Sexual-Network Based Model Evaluating the Impact of Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination on Infection Prevalence in an Adolescent Population." It featured a mathematical model she developed as part of the project.

Everett used findings from a 2004 study to test the effects of different levels of vaccination in adolescent girls or boys to prevent the spread of human papilloma virus (HPV). Everett found that the effectiveness of the human papilloma virus vaccine to prevent new infections among adolescents was two to three times greater than what previous research, based on adult sexual networks, had shown.

Everett's project also took a first place overall win at the Southeast Michigan Science Fair in March. She received an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta in May.

The YES Competition is designed to spur students' interest in the field of public health, specifically epidemiology. Epidemiology explores patterns of disease, illness and injury within populations, with the goal of developing methods for prevention, control and treatment to improve health.

The other first-place winner was Jessica Palmer of Ossining High School in Ossining, N.Y.